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Noa Kairy

Are Disposable Paper Cups Really a Sustainable Choice?



Noa Kairy asks whether disposable paper hot cups are as environmentally friendly as we think they are?

Single-use paper cups have become a ubiquitous part of our world, widely used for serving coffee, tea, and other hot beverages in the office and on the go. Many companies tend to choose paper hot cups over plastic to help reduce their carbon footprint. They believe that these cups are a sustainable choice because they are made from paper, a renewable resource. However, despite their widespread popularity, this belief is a common misconception. Disposable paper cups are not as environmentally friendly as many people believe. How is this so?

Traditional disposable paper hot cups are not biodegradable because there is usually a petroleum-based plastic lining on the inside of the cup. This lining is necessary to prevent the cup from leaking or becoming soggy, but it also makes the cups non-recyclable and not biodegradable. When paper cups are placed in recycling bins, the plastic lining is not easily separated from the paper, making it difficult for recycling facilities to process them. As a result, most paper cups end up in landfills, where they can take decades to break down.

Source One Eco Friendly offers an alternative solution to the plastic-lined disposable paper cup. Instead, they use a PLA thermoplastic material to coat the inside of their paper-based disposable hot cups, making them 100% biodegradable and compostable! PLA (polylactic acid) is the fastest-growing biodegradable plastic. It is made from renewable, organic sources such as corn starch, tapioca, and sugarcane. It is designed to break down as quickly as paper, making it a more sustainable choice for our planet. Using sustainable organic substances like PLA, rather than petroleum-based plastics, helps to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.

Source One Eco friendly also offers PLA-based beverage accessories such as cup lids and stirrers, which are traditionally made from plastic. Many companies don’t give much thought to where these small accessories go when they are discarded. However, single-use plastic items like lids and stirrers play a significant role in our planet’s plastic pollution crisis. They either end up littering our streets, parks, beaches, and oceans, or they accumulate in our landfills, leaching dangerous chemicals into the soil, harming wildlife and our ecosystem. Source One’s cup lids and stirrers are made from organic PLA materials, which are easily recyclable, biodegradable, and compostable, making them a more sustainable solution for the planet and your company.

So, next time you order disposable paper hot cups and beverage accessories for your company, ask about the plastic they contain. You can make a truly sustainable choice by contacting Source One to order your biodegradable disposable cups and other eco-friendly tableware products.

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